Games

I usually jump between Guild Wars 2 and the Elder Scrolls Online myself. But Warframe has been on the side of them as well since forever, but its more of MMO lite.

GW2 is very nice when it comes to combat and such, even if the large world events aren't really my cup of tea as the FX gets pretty bad. The story is decent enough and there is no subscription option at all. You do however need to buy the expansions and the living world story to get the entire game, i think there is a "complete pack" on steam. But its free to play the base game even though free accounts are very limited and should be seen more as an endless trial.

ESO has a far better world and deeper lore than GW2 does but i find its combat to be especially awful. A subscription is practically mandatory if you want to do crafting as there are a /lot/ of crafting materials and not a lot of inventory space. With the subscription you get access to the crafting bag which is just unlimited storage for crafting materials. The subscription also gives you access to all the episodes and expansions apart from the latest one. The story is often good, but nothing too exceptional.

Warframe is completely different as its a third person shooter. Its got some of the best movement in the business imo. Its entirely free to play as well with ways to earns everything in game, including the premium currency as its tradable between players. Its got some of the wildest lore of any game ive played and as such is quite unique in its take on sci fi. The story is great, but relatively short. If you do give this one a shot and hate the gameplay its not going to be for you as there is a lot of grind. But if you want to play a space ninja/walking WMD bouncing off of the walls while murdering hordes of enemies its definitely worth a try.

Ultima Online the OG mmorpg. There's a private run server that launched 6 years ago and took the community by storm. They've reworked almost everything and it's amazing. Outlands is the name of the server. UO outlands is like the UO2 we never got.

The last MMO I properly played was Black Desert Online. It is an absolutely amazing game but with disgusting monetisation. It did however also become a dangerous addiction in my life. It is currently free on steam I believe though!

Since that experience I haven't really played any MMOs, I tried out Throne and Liberty a few weeks ago and that was the most boring couple of hours of my life this year.

As a huge Guild Wars 1 fan, GW2 was one of the biggest disappointments ever.

Not playing it, but AoC seems to have a lot of potential.

I dunno if it counts as an MMORPG but Warframe has sunk its claws back into me and I can't get it out of my head. The new update is mindblowing in many ways and I'm so into whatever the devs keep cooking if they continue like this.

It's a tough game to get into but I've been playing it on and off for a decade now and there's nowhere I'd rather be

I'm not playing it at the moment but the most recent one i was actively subscribed to was ffxi. I find that now when I want to pay an MMO I stray away from the wow likes (if i want that style it's xiv for me though). I like the older ones that use more archaic combat systems because they're often very unique on a genre where everything now feels very similar.

Also here's an obligatory "I miss Wildstar"

WoW but losing interest. Got Keystone Hero on my main months ago and the only upgrades I have left are from the raid...And my guild isn't big enough for mythic raiding so I'll never get them. My friends are playing alts but there's no spec I enjoy anywhere near as much as my main

Played many over the years and while playing think of how GW2 implemented this specific thing and become nostalgic for GW2 and start playing that again. New world was fun for a while, but I missed magic (literally), so I started gw2 again and went through two expansions over 4 months, burned out and am now 1.5 years MMO sober.

GW2 is cool like that. No subs, respects your time, many players drop in and out every few years. It's getting old but I hope it never dies. I might start it up again this weekend...

Palia, which is the closest I can get to a cozy, friendly MMORPG with a decent community. The lack of enemies doesn't bother me, and I like feeling that I don't need to grind for gear or status. That being said, the game desperately needs more content. I'm on hiatus at the moment.

As far as the others go, Everquest and World of Warcraft were/are still my favorites but I haven't played them in years. MMORPGs are a dying breed, and today most if not all of them bring very little to the table. They don't make 'em like they used to, that's for sure.

These days, I prefer single player RPGs where choices matter, or games that have base-building elements and open world survival. I really don't care for playing with other murder hobos anymore.

I started playing GW2 at the end of 2023 an been having a blast with it! I played WoW for a decade until the combo of Shadowlands and the Acti-Blizz allegations soured me on that company forever. I tried FFXIV with everyone going over to that game and the story was good but the button bloat pushed me away from really getting into it. I then had that MMO itch at the end of 2023 again and decided to try GW2 and it's been great. Fun story, good gameplay and most importantly no subscription. It's so nice to be able to play with breaks and come back whenever you want to with no need to open up your wallet every time, just buy the expansions and Living Worlds once and you are done!

Eve online because I hate myself

I don't usually like MMORPGs because I haven't yet found one that hasn't been spoiled with microtransactions and a toxic playerbase, so I just play Outside. I'm much more a fan of singleplayer, or multiplayer with friends games like Terraria, Stardew Valley, or Minecraft.

Guildwars has been my choice for quite a while now. I enjoy most things about it, and it doesn’t feel like a job either. I can do my things, take a break, come back and still have fun. Plus all the cash shop items can be bought with in-game gold, which i do regularly.

Apart from that, I still really like ESO, in theory, but Zenimax continue showing incompetence and greed, so the interest there is decreasing fast. And that’s a shame

I tried WoW, GW2, ESO, NW and nothing stuck. I guess MMOs are not for me.

I'm not really a fan of MMORPGs, both due to the gameplay (MMOs are grindy by nature and the hotkey-driven autocombat of most MMORPGs isn't interesting enough to sustain that for me) and because of often aggressive monetization.

I do like some MMOs in other genres, though. Path of Exile is an action RPG with drop-in multiplayer and a rudimentary built-in trading system. It's basically Diablo 3 in good. Plus, its monetization system is one of the fairest I've seen so far, with the only MTXes that offer gameplay benefits being on sale literally every other weekend.

Path of Exile 2 (currently in closed beta) is basically the same with a tweaked skill system and a soulslike dodge roll mechanic that you're expected to use. Pretty decent, a bit slower-paced than the first one.

I should also pick up Warframe again one of these days. The repetitive nature of MMOs isn't as bad when it's a mobility-focused third-person shooter. And IIRC, there's not much you can get with MTX that you can't also get through gameplay somehow. Plus, it's also a game that you can just play singleplayer if you want.

I'm growing a bit tired of the gameplay loop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbEpXceeHoM

Not really into MMORPGs, but I've been trying The Finals and it's pretty cool. Like the destruction of Battlefield mixed with the movement of Apex Legends and maybe a light touch of Rainbow Six: Siege or COD. Definitely worth the $0.

None but the sweet siren of eve is making its annual beckon

I have almost no time to play much, especially an mmo, but I have been trying Throne & Liberty and was kind of impressed from what I have played so far. Again, I am only at the beginning and barely did much, but from what I have seen, I like the mechanics, and it looks really good. I have no clue if it holds up once you get near end game stuff or if P2W takes over.

2009scape. Because I can self host it.

I'll probably try Project Rubi-ka when they reopen the servers/help them out with some bug hunting, since Anarchy Online, despite its flaws, is still the best MMORPG I've played to date.... which is kinda sad tbh

I played a lot of MMOs during childhood but they're not fun anymore to me. I hop on FF14 when a new expansion drops, play for like a month and go play something else. I miss the big group content sometimes but my schtick nowadays are these 4-player multiplayer games with actual good combat, maybe with like a lobby of more people to interact.

Looking forward to the new monster hunter and ER Nightreign next year. Also Destiny 2 is my guilty pleasure. The gunplay is godlike, so satisfying but omg Bungie fumbled so hard, I legit hate this company.

Re-subbed to WoW for a month, for the huge 20th Anniversary Event. Since I've played so much earlier in the year (another event and expansion launch), I'm not interested in continuing after the sub runs out. There are a few more achievements I'll finish, but otherwise I'm kinda done.

FF14 is the only other MMO I've played, have like 650 hours on Steam, and I think I'm in the middle of the Stormblood campaign. It's been a while since I played it, but some day I'll make it to Endwalker.

I've recently gotten into New World: Aeternum. I'm on console so my MMORPG options are limited but I'm really enjoying it. There's dungeons, raids, world bosses, collecting, crafting and more.

I'm still playing endless Luanti while waiting for Guild Wars 2 to get SteamDeck verified.

Edit: Downvoter can't handle that Luanti is an MMO, now. I can't help that I'm the world's most accomplished self-hoster. (This is sarcasm, humorously implying that I'm hosting the world's biggest Luanti instance, such that it qualifies as "massively multiplayer". Which one might almost believe if they read my post history... I'm pretty active in both the Luanti and self-hosting communities.)

FFXIV because I'm trans and I think it's a requirement at that point.